SEX CLAIMS
Abercrombie & Fitch’s ex-CEO Mike Jeffries ‘exploited young men for sex before they were handed envelopes full of cash’
ABERCROMBIE & Fitch's ex-CEO Mike Jeffries allegedly exploited young men for sex before they were handed envelopes of cash, it has been claimed.
The 's Panorama reports that Mike Jeffries and his British partner Matthew Smith used a middleman to find young men for sex events at Jeffries' New York pad and at luxury hotels across the world.
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Jeffries and Smith did not respond to requests for comment.
But a middleman denied any wrongdoing - and said men entered the reported events "with their eyes wide open".
Eight men told the broadcaster that they attended events - with some alleging they were abused or exploited.
One of the men, David Bradberry, angrily called Jeffries a "predator" and a ";deviant".
It is claimed that "recruiters" would find men to attend the events and would get between $500 and $1,000 for every referral.
The BBC has named the alleged middleman as James Jacobson, and claimed he propositioned or sexually "auditioned" men by requesting or offering to perform sex acts.
Bradberry and another man, Barrett Paul, described how Jacobson wore a distinctive snakeskin patch over his nose - which he said had been mangled in a botched plastic surgery.
Bradberry said: "He was selling fame and the price was compliance.
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"Jim made it clear to me that unless I let him perform [sex acts] on me, that I would not be meeting with Abercrombie & Fitch or Mike Jeffries.
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"It should have been a red flag. I wanted to believe this was an opportunity to meet someone who could make all my dreams come true."
Jacobson allegedly told Bradberry to dress in Abercrombie & Fitch clothes for the event.
The men were reportedly given detailed instructions about the events with no mention of the sex acts expected of them.
Paul said: "It's just so f***ed up."
A personal "groomer" was allegedly hired to shave some of the men's intimate body hair - an experience Paul said was "dehumanising".
Some of the events allegedly took place at Jeffries' sprawling and secluded mansion in the Hamptons - with domestic staff ordered to leave every Saturday after "suspicious" preparations.
The men were allegedly required to sign non-disclosure agreements and were reportedly supervised during sex acts by staff wearing Abercrombie & Fitch uniform.
Breaking down in tears, Paul said: "I didn't say no. I didn't say yes either. I didn't have control."
Brad Edwards, the attorney for some of Jeffrey Epstein's victims, said the NDAs were "the work of the powerful to control the vulnerable".
'SEX TRAFFICKING'
Bradberry said that Jeffries held his neck and held up a "popper" - a drug which give users a quick high - to his nose at the event making him feel close to passing out.
He said that Jeffries gripped his back and kept refusing to wear a condom, leaving him feeling unsafe.
Bradberry said: "At that point, he had his hands on me so it was like he was physically directing me in an aggressive manner - do this, now do that.
"Between him and the security guards, I didn't feel safe to say no."
He also claimed that Jacobson "groomed" him for further exploitation by targeting his "self-esteem" telling him he was not "catalogue ready".
Another man - who remained anonymous - claimed that "date rape" drugs were put in his drink at an event in Marrakesh, knocking him out.
He said: "I woke up and I felt like something wasn't right.
"When I put things together, there is a very high possibility I was drugged and raped.
"I'll never know for sure what happened."
The man, who had been healthy, later discovered that he was HIV-positive.
Choking back tears, he said: "It kind of turned everything upside down.
"Things haven't been the same since then. It was a very slim possibility that it could have come from outside the event.
"But there's no way to know for sure."
Jeffries reportedly held sex events in New York, London, Paris, Venice. Morocco and the Caribbean.
It is alleged that Jeffries funded the whole operation including referral fees.
Edwards and another legal expert called for an investigation to determine whether sex trafficking charges should be brought.
He said: "It has the hallmarks of a coercive sexual encounter.
"The events described by the men could be sex trafficking."
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The brand said it was "appalled and disgusted" by the pair's alleged behaviour.
Panorama's The Abercrombie Guys: The Dark Side of Cool aired at 9pm on October 2 on BBC One.
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